USNA vs. USAFA vs. USMA

<p>order of merit, not just the gpa...in other words everything you do at the Academy you need to do well.</p>

<p>The higher your gpa, the better your chances, according to our BGO</p>

<p>it is my understanding GPA is but one item that factors into the OOM, which is used to determine just about everything on the yard.... including service selections...please clarify if this is incorrect....</p>

<p>you're correct Navy2010...USNA uses the QPR, I believe is what it is called. It is a combination of GPA Plus the Physical scores Plus the military scores. If you pick up the book Brief Points ( all you new parents, get a copy of this paperback and it will answer 90% of all USNA questions) the author explains this much better than I could ever attempt.</p>

<p>It is important for a mid to be balanced in all areas. Some mids are star students with high GPA's but are separated since they can't do the physical requirements. Same is true in reverse.</p>

<p>Our current Plebes already have a QPR score running that gives them their company rank. If your Plebe is the talkative kind, you can ask them about this - but they do know where they stand at least in their company. </p>

<p>By the time they begin their Firstie year, that QPR score is what gives them class standing. The higher the score the better their chances are of getting their service selection.</p>

<p>it was my understanding the "QPR"... or "quality point rating"... was based on academics alone (a factor of cumulative credits attempted, credits earned, and final grade)..... and that OOM was the score given that included QPR+ PRT+ military aptitude......</p>

<p>hmmmm.......will have to dig out my Brief Points again!</p>

<p>QRP is grades alone just like a GPA.</p>

<p>It is also my understanding that gpa (QPR in USNA speak) is just one of many factors in the OOM.</p>

<p>As explained in Brief Points by Ross M. Mackenzie</p>

<p>Although the GPA is important, it is only 65% of the story. A midshipman’s class standing, or order of merit reflects not only academics but his or her grades in conduct, military performance, physical education, and athletics. Only when those grades are factored into an academic average does a midshipman arrive at his or her order of merit. OOM is the basis of which privileges are dispensed. – pg 14</p>

<p>Officers and upperclass continuously evaluate a midshipman’s professional (military) aptitude, for example inspections, attitude, leadership, and general behavior. The resulting performance grades constitute about 25% of the OOM. – pg18</p>

<p>Service assignment is primarily based on order of merit, but including certain subjective inputs to allow for what the Academy considers the “whole person concept,” a board of officers makes the service assignments. Pg.55</p>

<p>Aviation is one of the service communities that has pre screening, including a medical and an aviation aptitude test.</p>

<p>Also it is my understanding the “other 10%” of the OOM is Brigade Support rankings, EC’s, bonus for more than 19 credit hours, deduction for less than 15 credit hours and probably any thing else they want to throw in.</p>

<p>Yes, your GPA is incredibly important but so is everything else you do.</p>

<p>page 14 of Brief point states QRP is what othr students call a GPA
I was digging through mine when you posted. :)</p>

<p>Then perhaps it is different in the USAF, or when the husband went through. He walked out with a 3.9 and into an airplane.</p>

<p>I'm wondering why our BGO would say such a thing and not in its entirety.</p>

<p>Its really not that tough to get aviation... Several of my friends in the 700s got it without a problem</p>

<p>Zaph,
Your right... I was being overly presumptious. Many things could happen either medically, or academically between now and the end of flight school</p>

<p>stallion-</p>

<p>Have you started on a private pilot's license or anything like that?</p>

<p>thanks for correcting me guys...I'm not at home, but 1500 miles away visiting my other daughter, so I don't have my Brief Points handy so thanks for the correction. In lots of ways this site is our version of wikipedia. :-) postings are constantly getting self-edited!</p>

<p>Profmom- that is what i thought, with one minor exception...</p>

<p>GPA reflects the number of credits attempted, times the grade point average acheived.... for example, chem may carry with it 4 credit hours... if a grade of A is achieved, you earn 4 points.... a B will earn 3, C=2, etc....</p>

<p>the QRP is simply a cumulative "summary" of all courses attempted to date...so for example, if you earn a b in che, that is 3 points... that gets added to the points from your other classes... and continues to "accumulate" as you add in more and more classes... so you can end up with something like a QRP of 144 points (over all 4 years) and a GPA of 3.0 or whatever....</p>

<p>"the GPA is determined by dividing total quality points [ie: grade earned] by credits attempted, excluding the credits from other current grading symbols<em>"
[</em>includes ABS/absent from final, AUD=audit, INC=incomplete, NGR=no grade issued by instructor, P=pass, U=unsat, W=withdrawal, WF=withdrawal with record of failure]</p>

<p>Formula: GPA=QP/(HA minus other current grading symbols*) where HA=credit hours attempted.</p>

<p>it is a pretty standardized scoring system, not unique to USNA... most colleges will use GPA and QRP and will report both on your transcript (at least the semester "report cards" that get sent home- if your kid allows it!!!)</p>

<p>if i can find more on this, will post back....however I agree that the GPA is the more important of the numbers as it reflects the grades earned, regardless if you took x number of classes as opposed to y.... and as you posted, the GPA is what is used for the OOM..... which, in turn, seems to be the final ranking....</p>

<p>Not quite true: "The QRP is simply a cumulative "summary" of all courses attempted to date"</p>

<p>That would be the CQPR.</p>

<p>Per Breif Points pg 14 the GPA and the QPR is exactly the same thing. The cumulative GPA would by your CQPR.</p>

<p>From the Naval Academy Catalog:

[quote]
Grades have an added dimension at the Naval Academy in that they affect your status and privileges as a midshipman. As the major determinant of class rank, they also influence ship selection or advanced training scheduling following service assignment and seniority upon graduation and commissioning.</p>

<p>We use a letter grading system with these values, called quality point equivalents, or QPE:</p>

<p>A = 4.0 (Excellent)
B = 3.0 (Good)
C = 2.0 (Satisfactory)
D = 1.0 (Marginally passing)
F = 0.0 (Failing)</p>

<p>Grades are averaged using a weighted semester hour system called the quality point rating or QPR. Your QPR is figured by multiplying the QPE received in each course by the semester hours of credit for the course. That total is divided by the total number of hours completed in the semester. You earn semester QPRs and a cumulative QPR (CQPR) based on all of your grades.</p>

<p>Midshipmen must maintain a cumulative QPR of 2.0 or above or they risk academic probation or dismissal. As required by law, the Academic Board reviews the records of academically deficient midshipmen. Midshipmen subject to academic discharge are those who fail two or more courses; have a semester QPR below 1.5; fail to remove academic probation; are two or more courses behind in the matrix of the assigned major; do not fulfill a requirement previously assigned by the Academic Board; or do not complete all graduation requirements by the end of the first-class year.</p>

<p>Grades in military performance, conduct, physical education and summer professional training are not included in the QPR, but they are figured into class standing. Satisfactory performance in professional areas is required.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>It really is just a semantics thing, I believe we are talking exactly the same thing. Too many letters...Alphabet Soup...</p>

<p>GPA Grade Point Average either Semester or Cumulative
QPE Quality Point Equivalent
QPR Quality Point Ratio
SQPR Semester Quality Point Ratio - not heard this one used but it is in Breif points
CQPR Overall Cumulative Point Ratio</p>

<p>As our Plebes get farther along won't their order of merit be based on the CQPR rather than GPA?</p>

<p>oh my....now I am really confused! :eek:</p>

<p>I'm with you there. What seemed simple...Too many letters :confused:</p>

<p>LOL!!! well at least I am in good company! :)</p>

<p>nursey- never flown a plane in my life</p>

<p>My husband got his private pilot's license before he went to UPT (undergrad. pilot training). That way he avoided, I forgot what they called it, but they'd take you up, spin you around, try and wash you out before you got washed out. If you had a ppl, you skipped that part.</p>

<p>I don't know what they do in the Navy. Our experience is strictly USAF. </p>

<p>Oh, I have so much to learn!</p>